Kate and Gerry McCann have urged the public to get behind the search for their missing daughter Madeleine as they did when she disappeared more than four years ago.
They also made a direct appeal to British prime minister David Cameron for a full independent review of the shelved police investigation into what happened to the little girl.
The couple hope that Mrs McCann’s highly-personal book about Madeleine’s disappearance, which went on sale today, will revive efforts to find their daughter. They said all proceeds from sales of the book will go towards the ongoing search for her.
Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3rd, 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.
The official Portuguese inquiry into the disappearance was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.
Launching her book today on her daughter’s eighth birthday, Mrs McCann (43), said people were “understandably shocked” that the authorities had “essentially given up” on the child.
The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have written to Mr Cameron asking for an “independent, transparent and comprehensive” review of all information about Madeleine’s disappearance.
Mrs McCann revealed that Easter this year marked the point when she and her husband had spent more time without Madeleine than with her.
PA